"For all the career development I've done over the years, I had never undertaken any form of structured self development work. I was slightly skeptical and a little bit scared, but realised there is only so far that you can go on your own. Ready to shift gear into the next phase of my life, I took the plunge and have had nothing but positive results since. Dara is so switched on, perceptive and, as she says, results driven. This was the clincher for me. Together we were able to drill down past the white noise of a busy life, down past the clutter of chattering thoughts and bad habits to uncover the underlying thought patterns and beliefs that motivate and demotivate. I've learnt to take stock of previous successes and gain confidence from these. Most importantly, I feel like I now have an arsenal of tools to turn to whenever I'm faced with a difficult decision or challenging situation. I've taken this new resilience, strength and maturity and pointed it at many different aspects of my life, with great results so far. She was right when she said 'results driven'. Thanks Dara for creating a safe environment to challenge me out of my comfort zone."

Shilana Y. - The Cancer Council

"I was at a point in my life where I wanted more, I wanted to be more, do more but my confidence was at an all-time low and add to that I was also feeling completely overwhelmed by the amount of choices at my disposal. Dara was able to put me at ease and really helped me to hone into the areas of my life that were important to me and where I needed to start to create change. We worked together to break down what I wanted to attract into my life, what sort of person I wanted to be and together we took small steps towards making those things happen. I still use and will continue to use the tools Dara has taught me. Personal development is an ongoing lifelong journey and I strongly believe that everyone would benefit so much from life coaching, to invest in yourself is the greatest gift you can give to your ‘self’.

Even if you think you have it all figured out, there is always more to learn, grow and evolve, we just need to create that space to allow it in. I am so incredibly grateful to have met Dara and highly recommend her to anyone wanting to be the best version of themselves, her presence, fun, kind nature made every session a joy to be a part of. Be brave with your life and go for it!"

"I was initially cynical about the idea of life-coaching and thought that positive psychology was just a fad about fooling yourself to think happy. It’s not. Life coaching is about looking inside yourself to identify the harmful habits and negative thought-cycles that are holding you back, and then consciously retooling the way you think to avoid those wasteful and exhausting mind traps.

In the lead up to my sessions with Dara I was suffering from another frequent bout of self doubt and anxiety about my career. Dara listened attentively to my story and pushed and prodded to reveal some unconsciously held justifications and barriers that I was using to keep myself safe in my comfort zone.

Over the course of six weeks, Dara challenged me to critically examine the assumptions I held about my values and beliefs, my self worth and potential, and my relationships. Through this process Dara helped me re-assert and re-commit to my life dreams and goals. Dara taught me how to train myself to embrace constructive and positive thoughts that will help me achieve my goals whilst casting aside useless negative ones. The result is that today I am a far more contented, confident and resilient person because I have a stronger idea of where I am going in life and why, and most importantly I have a much more constructive way to respond to things that don’t pan out the way I’d like.

So even if you think you’ve got most things figured out (like I previously did), I would highly recommend doing some life coaching with Dara to re-examine how you think about your life, relationships and/or work. Dara approaches her role with the perfect balance of sensitivity and understanding whilst also challenging you to do better. You’ll be surprised to discover the barriers that we all create (either consciously or unconsciously) that prevent us from being our best. Stop making excuses and just do it!"

Tess B. - Writer, Trainer & Transformational Coach

I found Dara to be a very perceptive coach who was able to get me out of my thinking and into my body. I have always been a thinker and through my work with Dara I realised that there was a way for me to snap out of the thinking and back into the present simply by changing physiology and breaking the state I was in. In this space I am free from control and even though this is a different space for me it is where i feel calm and connected."

Angus H. - Owner, Future Crunch

"Dara has been doing some life-coaching with me for the last three months, and has been absolutely amazing. I can't recommend her highly enough. What I particularly enjoyed was her ability to listen properly - this is not an easy thing in an age of hyperactivity. She was able to ask the right questions, and steer the conversation into areas that challenged me without ever seeming overbearing or prescriptive.

The ideas and strategies I developed as a result of our work were internally driven - what Dara allowed me to do was express them in a way that made sense to both of us. The act of describing one's life and career to an attentive listener, with the skills to decode it, was unexpectedly illuminating. I'm happiest listing my defects; she seized them, inverted them and turned them into things I could use. I am super grateful to her for the help she's given me."

Mike G. - Design Director

Dara has been so helpful to me. I looked around one day and it felt like I was one of the only people in my social circle that wasn't 'seeing someone' and that made me feel alone. I questioned why I wasn't. I mean, I suppose it's because I hadn't actually ever considered seeing a life coach before, but suddenly I realised that my life was a hot mess and the mistakes that I was making over and over again were becoming habits that I couldn't seem to break.

was about to make a radical leap in my professional life and couldn't get an objective opinion on what the best steps were to take. I needed help. Dara was awesome. Within the first 30 minutes I realised there was a laundry list of emotions and issues that were piling up underneath the metaphorical rug that I kept sweeping things under.

So while I thought I was hoping to get some career help, it was clear that I couldn't get that right until I dealt with the myriad of issues in my life first.

I was admittedly a terrible client, frequently rescheduling, rarely coming with an intention, and someone who generally waffles in the abstract. But it was fine, Dara and I would start chatting and by the end of each session I was always surprised by where we had ended up.

Sounds corny, but each session truly was a journey of self-discovery. To me, the strangest thing about the whole experience was that, in an almost disconcerting fashion, everything that I had set out to accomplish in my personal and professional life, was very neatly resolved by literally, the very last session. I don't know how she does that, but whatever she did, I can't thank her enough.

Marie J. - Owner, Designed to Grow

"Dara has been so helpful to me. I was not sure what a life coach was at the beginning and having done a lot of self-development work on myself already, I was not expecting much of an outcome from our sessions together. But Oh-Oh, was I wrong. Dara is dynamic, expressive and really knows what she’s talking about.

Having her pushing me a little bit further than my normal comfort zone was challenging but I was able to discover a lot about myself, seeing the limiting patterns I’d been locked in for years and more importantly, I’ve been able to take actions to make changes. Yep, I have to admit that I’m very impressed with the way I’ve been able to move my life in the last months with Dara’s help. She was such a good guide for me. It was easy for me to open up to her and I felt genuinely loved and cared for during our sessions. I am so grateful I had the chance to work with her."

Belinda C., Senior Strategic Manager, City of Gold Coast

"I undertook a six week life coaching course with Dara and could not recommend it enough. She was extremely knowledgeable, professional and pushed me out of my comfort zone, whilst providing a safe, non-judgmental environment. As a direct result of these sessions Dara has equipped me with tools to develop my career, helped me develop strategies to achieve my fitness and education goals and by developing my communication skills I have improved my personal and professional relationships. These coaching sessions have given me the confidence and tools to achieve the things I have always wanted out of life- which is an exciting feeling."

Winston W. , Customer Service Consultant

"I have had 6 coaching sessions with Dara which I benefitted from it greatly. Dara is extremely reliable and uses the available time effectively. I found Dara challenged my current thinking but never in an intrusive manner. During the coaching Dara listened carefully and showed in subsequent sessions that she remembered clearly the key points from previous sessions. Dara's thoughtful manner and style were very helpful for me

to improve my life in several areas.I could confidently recommend Dara to anyone seeking to resolve issues and improve their quality of life."

Lauren K., The Coaching Institute

"Before I connected with Dara I was torturously aware of just how stuck I was. I was aware that the same cycles re-played throughout my personal and professional life and relationships. I could feel that I was uninspired, disempowered and just not living up to my potential. I knew that despite all the study and reading I did, there were things at play in my life that were beyond my ability to recognize and take action on. I was running circles around myself, running to stand still, procrastinating EVERYTHING, afraid of failure and success and stalled in my tracks due to crippling perfectionism.

Through working with Dara I discovered that having someone regularly catch and identify the patterns and ‘things at play beyond our conscious awareness’, call us on our limiting beliefs and hold us accountable for our goals is an invaluable way to stay focused on growth and learning in our lives. One of the greatest things that has come up so far in working with Dara was the moment when it became clear that I had made some decisions as a young child with an emotionally unavailable father to protect myself, and the implications of those decisions were costing me severely in my adult life.

Through the work we do together, I am now taking huge steps away and out of patterns that have held me back for…most of my life. I feel lighter, stronger, calmer and more grounded thanks to our sessions together. By making the connection between that decision I made as a child and the holding patterns of the present, I have been able to relate to people in a completely liberated and enlightened way, distance myself from fears that fuelled my procrastination cycles and take steps in building a business that I am proud of and a life I’m inspired to live. I’m can barely believe that in 6 sessions I have been able to achieve such liberation from a source of discomfort and misery in my life. I’m SO grateful!"

Kim L.

"When I started life coaching I was at a point in my life where I felt like I was making no progress in my life, just going through the motions because I had to. I didn't really know much about what life coaching could offer me, but I hoped it would help me to sort through some of the confusion and stagnation I was experiencing. I had begun to question my past decisions and doubt myself when it came to making decisions moving forward.

I have often wondered why they have allowed self-limiting thoughts and feelings to exist. Why not just do that thing you always wanted to do and be the person you want to be. I was aware of my thought patterns which I didn't know how exactly to change. Positive thinking is just the start, and the ability to 'turn against' unwanted (unconscious) behaviours such as procrastination with simple techniques is amazing. I wrote down the key points during the sessions which formed a kind of reference book, and Dara set exercises for the next session. I add to my journal regularly and refer to it often to keep the learning fresh. I have learnt to let go of the thoughts and feelings that don't serve me, what has been really helpful is that Dara has been there point out the negative talk in my head and the ways in which I sabotaged myself in the past.

Life coaching enabled me to identify and explore my core beliefs and values. Examine defining moments and analyse the resulting response. What are the thoughts am I giving power to? Why I think that way. I really wanted to be in a comfortable place within myself. It all seems so fundamental but for me it was not and how great to meet Dara who has the ability to help draw out the answers within gently but firmly. Of course a had the answers myself all the time, as we all do, but life coaching has been invaluable in speeding up the process substantially and getting me to the point where decisions are easy to make and I trust my own thinking.

It wasn't always easy but that is the exact reason that having a guide is so important. I'm happy that I pushed through because I now know where I want to go. It is essential to have a plan or map to get to you destination but sometime it's difficult to decide which way to go. I am grateful for the help I received and highly recommend life coaching to anyone whatever headspace you're in there's always the possibility of improvement. I look forward to the next chapter in my life journey."

Ramona B.

"I’ve been doing some self-development work for quite some time but was looking for a helping hand as I wanted to begin a new chapter especially in my professional life.

Due to a chronic illness that I developed three years ago I had to make changes that impacted my profession and my private life intensively. This was very challenging but on the other hand it’s interesting what your body is trying to teach you and for me it was definitely learning to listen to my body and also accepting situations that I cannot control.

I started to have coaching sessions with Dara and she helped me in the decision making process of how I can create my new career that is close to my heart, that will give me my financial independency back and of course always making sure that I’m listening to my body;-)

With her Success methodology Dara gave me the needed ‘kick in the butt’ and throughout the sessions it became clear to me that I do have the power and physical state to go into the direction that I want. Dara changed my approach to be more action-oriented and I’ve been applying this ever since.

Before our sessions I wasn’t really sure which way is the best and how should I start. Together with Dara, her variety of toolset, her great listening skill and focus on achieving your own best, I’ve achieved the clear picture that I wanted, I know my way to go now and I gained so much more on a personal side during the six sessions that I wouldn’t have imagined before!

Dara has been the perfect coach for me and I highly recommend her for anyone who knows that a change is required and doesn’t know how to approach it."

Aveen M., Bank of Melbourne

"I am extremely thankful to Dara for being my thoughtful, smart and powerful coach for many, many issue I had been dealing with. She is an amazing listener with great suggestions and made effective conclusions to every session. I lover her emails with the summary of the session, as well along with exercised to do. I can certainly say I am much more confident, happier and stronger person since I have had sessions with her. I wish her all the luck, and I will be back for more coaching later in the future."